The Kitschies: 2012 Submissions by the Numbers

Ahead of the 2012 Kitschies shortlist announcement, Jared over on Pornokitsch have been looking at the submission numbers and throwing up a few charts.

Jared writes:

“Before I get into my own superficial conclusions, it is important to note that I’m not claiming that our submissions are indicative of anything besides our submissions.Â But, at 200+ books, selected by the publishers (and occasionally prompted by the judges), there’sÂ possiblyÂ some sort of loose/anecdotal correlation with the year’s genre output as a whole.Â

There’s a shocking lack of fiction in translation – statistically, a UK genre title is twice as likely to have a zombie than be first published in a non-English language. Sadly, I suspect this is probably true across the genre, and not just in our submissions pile.Â

Vampires and zombies are still going strong.

Steampunk’s not going away either.

Quite a few people predicted that angels and demons would be popular in 2012 (yup) and that superheroes and werewolves would be on the rise in 2013 (we’ll see).

As the award ages, we’re now in a position where previous finalists (and winners) now have new books submitted. This year, we had six (plus two others with re-jacketed old books submitted for the Inky).

“Mid-series” is also an interesting one, encompassing both outright, “picks up after the cliffhanger ending” sequels and self-contained novels that are set in existing worlds. How to judge a mid-series book seems a uniquely genre challenge: George RR Martin’s latest installment inÂ A Song of Ice and FireÂ is an inevitable Hugo finalist, whereas “lit-fic” prizes deal with, at most, the occasional sequel (see: Hilary Mantel). Â

There was some discussion earlier this year about a self-publishing “avalanche” overwhelming the submissions piles of all book awards. Even with our liberal submissions policy – no fee, only two physical copies required – we only received seven self-published books. (Requiring physical copies, which can even take the form of stapled print-outs, isn’t meant to be a barrier, as not all of our judges have e-readers.) “

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Hailing from the rain-sodden, North Western wastelands of England, Phil has dabbled in many an arcane vocation. From rock-star to conveyor-belt scraper at a bread factory, 'Dairy Logistics Technician' to world's worst waiter.
He's currently a freelance designer, actor, sometime writer/editor and Chair of the British Fantasy Society. He is on the Global Frequency and is still considering becoming an astronaut when he grows up.